And I'm a graduate of the University of Michigan, making it extra special. There's an amazing poster for this show, I'm sure it's in somebody's comments below. Great to finally hear this now that a friend turned me onto archive.

A previous reviewer raved about Keith's playing on TOO, and it certainly stands out in the early part, after the drums but before the verse. Crafty, delicate, expressive, Keith shows here why they hired him. Nothing at all like the drug-addled, percussive, mailed-in chord banging of 78. But check out Phil during the middle jam. His angular bass runs rule that section.

Overall this is a really nice recording from the transition period of late 71. The band has hired Keith Godchaux, brought on Dan Healy to improve the sound along with Owsley returned from prison, Jerry's switched away from the old, raspy Gibson sound to the sweet Stratocaster, and they're just starting to explore what they can do. They have yet to push the exploratory jamming to the limits, though. This 7-plus minute "Playin'" has finally started to expand beyond the basic song, sort of coming off the walls at the ice rink, but not yet doing the long dance routines. It's starting to hit the bunny slopes, but not yet doing the long downhill runs or cross-country hikes. There's one nasty buzz, but otherwise the sound is excellent.

This is definitely a top 50 show for me based on crisp playing, super strong setlist and great recording. Some weird little insertions in the tape here and there that break up the flow a tiny bit, but all around amazing.

One of the best shows of the period, the Other One suite being the highlight, with lots of great, spacey, cohesive interplay and quick changes in direction. Really starting to move toward the definitive 72 "sound" here.

The mister charlie just plain rips it up on this show. Is mister charlie racist, though? Cuz i thougt a mister charlie was a white person calling black person a bad name. Wooly Booly and chubba chubba....aren't they racist words? cuz i thought Pigpen dated black women?

The first set is very tight and is one of the better ones with Keith in 1971. Mr. Charlie, Jack Straw, Tennessee and Black Peter are solid.
This is The Mr. Charlie of '71.
With all respect, 12/15 is better for a second set.
DS is as good as any from that year.

no track labels.

What a show, Hill Auditorium is an amazing venue, I've seen the Dead many times, including the first tour, 1967 Grande Ballroom Detroit,Mi.
None compare with this one, Jerry jammed with the New Riders of the Purple Sage on their second set too, I wish I could remember if I was at the 14th, or 15th of Dec show, my brain is still going snap, crackle, pop from the 60's.. but I'll never forget my favorite concert of all time.
Wish I could give it more then 5 Stars, great job to all involved.

Re-listening to this beauty, which I had on tape through the mid 80s to mid 90s, I felt moved to write again to express my sense of wonder and appreciate for a stellar show.

I was hooked on the Dead in 85 via my carpool driver but only old enough to see my first Dead show in '87 when my parents dropped me off at the Centrum in Worcester (I was too young to drive). I had hundreds of hours on tape and even today, nearly 30 years later, consider gdradio.net a staple and source of continual enjoyment.

There is something about this show that is unique and special.
Lovelight at the end has the energy of a great Otis Redding show with Pig going all out. The keyboard is beautiful throughout with a wonderful blend of bounce and "mellowness".

Just a all out great show. Thank you

Tennessee Jed alone would have been worth the price of admission!

Breathin outta my mouth and fartin outta my ass, hope that is alright.

PS: The set list is great and the playing is better. Give it a whirl if you have not already.

great show...on par with the rest of december '71.

track 24 which is titled "tuning" is actually a short serving of "stars and stripes forever". a great little piece that makes this show stand out from some similar nights.

I love December 1971. I consider it superior to everything on Europe '72. They were so up for the radio simulcasts, the New Riders were great, even Bill Graham's introductions were memorable.

How delightful. Gettin' work done while listening to the boys. '71 was an excellent year. I only wish I'd been in Ann Arbor for this one! Everything is crystal clear. And for argument's sake, if you want to "save" these tunes and be able to listen on your Ipod, remember that if you listened to the show, you've got it! Open your temporary internet files shortly after you've given a listen and they'll be sitting right there. Just save 'em in a file, right click on each tune and click the "open with..." and make your selection - assuming that it's perfectly legal and doesn't impinge on anyone's copyright. I would never advocate doing anything illegal :-)
OK, ya got me. I went to law school.

@Shakedown: Contextually, it seems bad to be a mouth breather. Seems to evoke images of neaderthals and such. I breathe with my mouth, but only when I'm catching my breath...

About the show -- I'm a much bigger fan of 1971-08-06 for some good old '71 dead. Seems like 08-06 was the end of an era... and even 4 months later, we're into a new phase. I guess I liked the older sound, perhaps a little more raw and heavy. It feels like they're trying to force a delicacy here. Guess it was required for the development, but I miss the balls.

Four stars because the show is *good* but, misses the feel of the earlier '71 stuff. And I was hoping...

I was just looking at the posters that they were giving away that nite in Ann Arbor. After the show I found another one signed by Pigpen!! Of course I lost those years ago,but I see they sell for thousands what crap! Gary Grimshaw the artist doesn't have any rights to reprinting so the only money he has ever made was from the original commission. Why the current Dead administration won't let him reprint is a travesty!! So again some puke who is miles from being creative holds the cards. Wolfgangs wants $3600 for it. Thats a far cry from the free posters that glorious night all those years ago. My how things and people have changed...........But I have my memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got baked before listening to this. It sounds fantastic, but that's not why I'm writing.

After reading the reviews, something from edkinn irked me. He called the people who like to download dead music "mouth-breathing, ignorant, self-centered asses".

Mouth breathing asses?

Has anyone heard this before?

Is the term mouth breather an insult?

It just confuses and amuses me.

The Boys were doing well this night and I listen to this show often. Great Set, tight, and Crisp. Just like I like my ladies, lol. Seriously, this is a keeper.

New to archive org. But top to bottom this show is great. Top notch sound quality. My personal favorite of this show is the playing...

Pbones, I concur...oh,and Edkinn, why do you live in your mom's basement? Great show!!

edkin, no one needs to be talked to like that. besides I don't think the dead need you to stand up for them. But if your self-righteous post makes you feel better because you're a hero saving the music for everyone, then that's good for you. But I'll speak for myself when I say that you sound like a jerk.

This show is absolutely perfect and deserves to be part of any serious collection. It has impassioned vocals, spectacular guitar lines, and nice keyboard fills. There are classic if not definitive versions of many of their best songs, not to mention all the blues numbers that Pigpen just nails. Oh yeah did I mention the sound quality? It's a Betty Cantor masterpiece! I have to agree with previous posters in questioning why this hasn't been officially released? It doesn't get any better than this folks...

For those of you who choose to devise a way around the streaming limitation to rip this music and then share your tactics with others:

Take your mouth-breathing, ignorant, self-centered asses out of you moms basement and go play in traffic.

If you love the privlidge of this music, don't ruin it for everyone by risking having the music stop altogether. It sucks that we can't have unfettered to everything - but I would rather have something than nothing.

Open your eyes you fucking lowlifes.

I have had this a piece of this show on tape for some time and now am lucky enough to hear the entire show...including a BLAZIN' other one!!
Thanks archive!!!

This show is awesome!!! I really need it for my collection can someone send me the discs. My e-mail address is chamy_richardson2@msn.com
Would gratefuly appreciate it.

This is one of my favorite shows being one of the most rocking and swinging I've heard from the boys. Bobby is at his funky best. His rhythm playing is outstanding. Pig is soulful, in good voice and his organ playing is up in the mix. He and Keith are locked in together and Keith plays with energetic abandon. I really love this particular period when the Dead all to briefly had two keyboard players as full-time members of the band. Jerry nimbly saiis over the top weaving intricate patterns with Phil and Bill swinging hard underneath. I knew it was going to be a winner during the first song Truckin' when Jerry and Bob's guitars started to interweave in simultaneous leads. Jerry is also in good voice and he shines on the ballad material. But ballads and great melodic playing notwithstanding this show is all about the groove and what a groove it is. I'd say it' an excellent candidate for introducing newbies to the Grateful Dead. The only question that I ask myself is why is this not a Dick's Pick? For this one I would gladly pay.

OK, so if you are using the Firefox browser, and you get the free "Freecorder" extension (http://applian.com/freecorder3/), you can make an mp3 file of ANYTHING that you are hearing through your computer. Then you take that mp3 file and burn it onto a CD. Pieces of cake.

This might be the best.

i've been obsessing over this show for a long time and desperately need it on CD (for my car!) -- if anyone had a soundboard copy and would send it to me i'd hugely appreciate it... and would gladly send back a list of what i've got... thank you so much. my e-mail is alucard1974@aol.com

great and full, no doubt. but (as an ann arbor denizen from 1962--65), I must point out that the next night's Run Run Rudolph is good even 3 weeks after the Consumerist Christmas Crap has waned and some of your neighbors have ceased making their homes look like used parking lots.

peace for now,
capt. dog doo

I've been streaming this tonight, and want it bad! (But not bad enough to pay for it). Too bad the site mentioned below feels like they have to profit from our boys - but if ever one was worth it, this probably is ! The sound is crispy and the set is awesome with Piggers too! Far out!

I found this show at bt.etree.org. As part of:
Grateful Dead 1971 Project ~ Part 10

Enjoy!!

This show is the best of two shows (December 14th & 15th) at the Hill Auditorium. I'm from Detroit, so with this show being in Ann Arbor, I like it more. 1971 was one of the dead's best years, so that kind of helps. The Set List is exceptional. This is kind of like my dream GD setlist, especially since I love Jack Straw, Wharf Rat, and The Other One. The Only thing that I like better about the Dec 15th show is that there is a CC Rider, Lovelight, and NFA

One of a kind!

Words can't do this show justice, so I'm not going to even try. It's one of the best. If anyone has a copy of this, if you could contact me at bravesirrobin12@yahoo.com, I would appreciate it forever and ever.

god smiles on the dead, and deadheads too, with all the filth and perversion on the internet, this site is beautiful and kinda balances out the karma of the other shit that pervades cyberspace. get this show, get it today, if you have only 50 shows, make this one of them. peace

smokin show maybe the best sugaree ever all the key elements...great quality! thanx to all those responsible!!!

Have listened to this a couple of times and "All of it" is just GRATE!!! I live in Ann Arbor now(not in 1971)and just wonder if anyone would shere a copy of this show on cds. E-mail me at bubblehead631@yahoo.com. Thanks and have A GRATEFUL DAY

A true sparkler with excellant renditions of almost every song !!

If you haven't listened to this one yet, it is an absolute 5 with no asterisks.

I second that notion. This Wharf Rat is HUGE! Jerry's vocals are some of his best ever! This show is a MONSTER! Shit, all of December 1971 is HUGE! I love this dead.

This is definately one of the better wharf rats, to be sure. Five stars for Jerry's voice and the clarity of the sound

Amazing recording quality.
Great show . The warmth and the energy of 71 with the sound of 72.

This show is one of the best ive ever herd. Crisp clear, and filled with love!! Perfecto from start to finish. There are times when the boys nailed a song. And there are nights where they nailed every song. This show is one of them. I cannot even comment on one song.

yes, must have for any one of us ::))))))))

top notch,beautiful, sounds like heaven if you like 71 and you dont have this show this is a must

This is one of if not the best GD recordings in circulation.I'm not as big a fan of the songs as I am the long improv sections.That being said so I don't mislead anyone into thinking this is not a good performance because it is.Just not enough playing for my taste.However, Jack Straw is exceptional and the Other One jam is great.
The real issue here is the awsome mix and recording.You'll have a hard time finding a better one than this.As good as anything out there in comercial release minus the mastering.
A 5 star for the unusual recording quality.

Not only is this show excellently played (check out the Cryptical>Drumz>Other One>Wharf Rat and the stellar NFA>GDTRFB>NFA), but the sound is absolutely STUNNING. Every instrument has incredible presence, the most of all Billy's drums are especially clear in the mix. I guess it's a Betty board and she always did a stellar job recording Dead shows, no matter what!

This show is sitting here in the corner with no one to dance with, so I gotta tell you folks what a grand show this is! Found among the top ten in Deadbase, this night seems to really capture the energy and anticipation that was the Grateful Dead in late 71.Of course it helps that they were in Ann Arbor, still a very radical town in 1971 (John Sinclair). But here you have, with the return of Pig, the line up and big sound that would become Europe 72. Great versions of Sugaree,Mr.Charlie,RR Blues. The Black Peter comes off like poetry; the Tenn Jed is slippery and funky. Now for the Other One (***I'm listening to it as I write this***)
Most of the 71 versions are fairly short, this one plus the Wharf Rat extends over half an hour. The band sounds tight and confident, beginning to stretch the boundaries of this song towards what would evolve into their (greatest?) 1972 versions.
Wharf Rat, now fully fleshed out since 2/18/71, is in its full glory here. And the NFA>GDTRFB ending leaves you wanting nothing more.Check this show out, you're in for a treat! A must have.
Dr. Flashback ;-)